2001, una odissea a l'espai (1968)

2001: A Space Odyssey
Author: Arthur C Clarke
Publisher: Penguin/ROC
Publishing Date: 1968 / 1993
Pgs: 236 pgs
Dewey: F CLA
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The evolution of man...the evolution of life...the evolution of the universe. The Monolith watches, it tests, it abides. Buried on the Moon, Man finds something that shouldn’t be, couldn’t be. The Monolith sends man on a voyage of discovery into the outer depths of the solar system in hope of contacting an alien intelligence. The unknown and a psychotic computer, man vs the unknown, man vs machine, horror in the abyss of space, death, discovery.
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Genre:
Science Fiction
Fiction
Space
First Contact
Aliens
Cyberhorror
Horror

Why this book:
It's a classic, that's why. And I want to read the complete series this year.
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The Feel:
Dave’s horror at HAL’s actions and that feeling of isolation and trapped with a psychpathic computer that has control of you and your survival.

Favorite Character:
Moon-Watcher's story is much fleshed out compared to the movie. The Man-Apes rise.

Favorite Scene:
And HAL begins to lose his marbles. Still scary, even when you know it's coming.

Favorite Concept:
Moon-Watcher’s harsh life, all of their hard scrabble existences. The development of minds took a leap forward with the introduction of non-plant proteins into the diet. Moon seems to be ahead of that curve.

Hmm Moments:
So in 1968 Arthur C Clarke opined about radio hypnosis from satellite transmitters, compulsion viruses, and blackmail by synthetic disease spread for which the originator alone has the antidote, scary. He was that far ahead of the curve.

Almost like he sould see the future with computer pads and thumbnail click links.

Much more about where Bowman went and what happened to him.

Meh / PFFT Moments:
The idea that astronauts are so well adjusted that they are too intelligent and well adjusted to quarrel amongst themselves after being alone in a pressure sphere for months and months and months. C’mon man.

Juxtaposition:
Pandora's box and the Monolith that's a good comparison.

The; interaction between Dave and Hal is much more ominous in the movie, still an evil crazy computer.

The Unexpected:
The depth of Dave’s experience post Saturn explored here in the denouement.

Soundtrack:
Thus Spake Zarathustra
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Pacing:
Well paced throughout.
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I don't quite understand why this is a classic. But at the same time it isn't a bad story. I was just interested enough to keep going, but ultimately didn't care what happened. That's not something I can ever remember happening to me.

Hal was interesting. For a character so very popular his portion wasn't overly long. But I get why it was memorable. His scenes were dark, even induced paranoia and worry which is a homerun for a writer if you can pull that off.

The overall story was blah, the ending interesting but cut very short and didn't really make a lot of sense to me. I won't say more, as I don't want it spoiled for anyone who might not have read it yet. But I will say that it seemed out of left field.

Two baseball analogies in one review, yes... it is definitely baseball season. ( )

Fantastic. I was blown away. Very interestingly and scientifically written, without the anachronistic old-scifi elements so much classic scifi has. Can't wait to watch the movie. ( )

worth reading becouse of its place in history. But not that amazing. ( )

A SF novel that was written at the same time as the movie, which follows it closely but expands much more on the ideas. It is a great book and I do think it is more of a companion novel to the movie. Reading it without the movie may make it more of a difficult read. The book is very interesting and I really enjoyed it. ( )